THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Wear Poppy To Remember Those Who Sacrificed All

Poppy time will be held in Crivitz the last two weeks of May at Witts Piggly Wiggly store. Members of the Netzel-Zenz Legion Auxiliary will be on hand to offer poppies to the public for a small donation.

It was in 1918 when Americans went to Europe and fought in France to liberate them from the Germans. Over 2000 soldiers never survived, and the area where they were fighting were fields upon fields of little red poppies growing wild in Flanders Field. The French wanted to show their thankfulness to the Americans who gave them their freedom that they dedicated an entire cemetery to the brave American men, so far away from their homeland who came to their rescue. This now is where crosses are there for each soldier, along with the little red poppy symbol.

To further the programs dedicated to veterans of all wars then and since the small red poppies are made and offered to the public to show thanks for being free. The poppies distributed in Wisconsin are made by the many men in the VA Hospital in Milwaukee. Many of these soldiers are without limbs or flat on their bellies on gurneys, but with a will to show they are capable to provide the service.

When you see the ladies of Crivitz Legion Auxiliary holding poppies in their hands, ask for a poppy and give a small donation. All the money will go for veteran use.

Famous Poem:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The Larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We Lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

in Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If you break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

--Col. John McCrae

Auxiliary Article

of the Poppy Story

submitted by Dorothy Franzen.

From the battlefields of World War I, weary soldiers brought home the memory of a barren landscape transformed by wild poppies, red as the blood that had soaked the soil. By that miracle of nature, the spirit of their lost comrades lived on.

The poppy became a symbol of the sacrifice of lives in war, and represented the hope that none had died in vain. The American Legion Auxiliary Poppy has continued to bloom for the casualties of four wars, its petals of paper bound together for veterans, reminding America each year that the men and women who have served and died for their country deserve to be remembered. Poppy Day has become a familiar tradition in almost every American community. This distribution of the bright red memorial flower to the public is one of the oldest and most widely recognized programs of the American Legion Auxiliary.

This poppy, as a memorial flower to the war dead, can be traced to a single individual, Miss Moina Michael. She was so moved by Col. McCraes poem that she wrote a response:

...the blood of heroes never died

But lends a luster to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead

In Flanders Fields.

On impulse, she bought a bouquet of poppies, all that New York Citys Wanamakers Department Store had, and handed them to businessmen meeting at the New York YMCA where she worked. She asked them to wear the poppy as a tribute to the fallen. That was November 1918. World War I was over, but Americas sons would rest forever in Flanders Fields. Later, she would spearhead a campaign that would result in the adoption of the poppy as the national symbol of sacrifice.